Hurricane watch: Web series 'Exploring the Obscure' to visit Sandbar

The producers of “Exploring the Obscure,” a Web series that deals in offbeat oddities around the world, have chosen a beloved Lawrence drinking institution as their next filming locale.

Tim Martini, the show’s host, confirmed the news Friday. On Saturday, the Toronto-based traveler and his crew will interview staffers from The Sandbar about the origins of the Hurricane and later, partake in the kooky ritual himself.

The indoor Hurricane, for the uninitiated, involves a fake newscast, a high-tech vortex machine, simulated precipitation and mermaids, among other nautical elements. It also occurs almost every night at 10 p.m.

Saturday’s stop is the first of several Kansas visits on Martini’s month-long tour across the U.S.

A trip to Monument Rocks in Oakley and Goodland’s giant reproduction of Van Gogh’s “Three Sunflowers in a Vase” (the easel alone is 80 feet tall) on Monday round out the Kansas leg of Martini’s journey, which will tentatively end in Colorado with a giant castle made of beer cans.

Luckily for Martini, Saturday’s stop at the Sandbar just happens to fall on his birthday, which probably means mermaid dancing, I point out.

You can witness the filming of the Hurricane — and the possibility of Martini in a mermaid (merman?) costume — around 10 p.m. Saturday, or check it out later on Facebook or YouTube.